State Senate Considers Bill to Make Speed Cameras Less Illegal

Despite it likely being an illegal arrangement, Maryland’s state and local governments have been paying speed camera operators by volume of citations. The state Senate could change that this week as they consider a bill that would even more expressly prohibit the practice. The bill would also require that the tickets be accompanied by enough information for drivers to “fact-check their citations.”

There was a provision that would restrict camera placement to within 500 feet of a school. (Remember how the original premise of the cameras was to reduce speeding in school zones?) That provision was eliminated. So Baltimore’s practice of placing them within the same zip code as a school will still stand.

Sen. James Brochin, who drafted the bill, hopes it will help “trust in government [be] somewhat restored.”